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you're all helping them figure out 32" way too much with these suggestions 🤣

I'm just spitballing here, but one of the limiting dimensions that does not help gain wheel size or suspension travel is headtube length. What if for 32" bikes, the head tube was split, in which case it only needs to house a bearing on each end, and the stem attached in between? Scott does so much integration hell already that I'd bet they'd be into this.

If you listen to the latest Downtime podcast, it was Neko who invited Ken and set up the whole thing. I can't help but feel that people are in the habit now of only seeing everything from a purely negative perspective - maybe we could all get a grip and stop whinging 100% of the time...

I have not been a fan of the commentating for some time but this weekend marked a new low. I don’t follow moto so Ken Roczen’s presence in the booth did absolutely nothing for me — it only detracted from the viewing experience as Josh just fanned out about moto stuff rather than talking about the actual race runs taking place. Josh’s poor and regionalized vocabulary is a bad trait for a commentator and he rarely has anything of value to add. Watch a basketball game if you want to see how much a caller can contribute. Ric and Josh...

I worked at REI and got a screaming deal on a Ghost Rocket hardtail that had a busted pinion gearbox. It was the week before Covid shutdowns and I spent the next 4 months dealing with Gates to get the seals replaced. Finally got the gearbox back, reinstalled it on the bike and went for my first ever ride on the bike. 5 miles down the trail my pedal unthreaded from the axle. I couldn’t understand how it happened but finger tightened it and limped back to my car. Turns out the pinion gearbox will let you put the cranks...

One time, before heading up the lift on one of my first bike park days ever, I lubed my chain with an aerosol spray lube – inadvertently covering my rear rotor. This was at Winter Park, before it was Trestle, and one of the only ways down from the top was straight shot under the lift. I had probably just watched a Cedric Gracia or Fabien Barel NWD segment or something, so I nuked it down, thinking to myself "anyone seeing this from the lift is probably super impressed." When I grabbed brake for the corner at the bottom of...

Had a creak, started simple, removed the cranks and BB and regreased, still there. Went through each pivot and checked and regreased bearings and pivot bolts. Still there. Pulled the fork off, repressed the cups into the frame and the creak was still there. It is now about 1 am, started at around 8:30pm after dinner with the wife. Went back to the cranks, tried the pedals, still there!!! Pulled the cranks out and they are Raceface, checked the chain ring, that was loose, only slightly, tighten it up and creak was gone!!! Now whenever I get a creak that...

Great thread. I'll share my own.. Been working in the industry for years now in various roles, this has turned me into my non-bike friends go to person for anything bike related. A friend hit me up to change his pedals for him - not a problem, bring the bike over, I've worked in shops for years, and changed thousands of pedals. My friend comes over, throw his bike in the work stand, swap one pedal, come around to the other, it doesn't thread on, he watched me struggle for 10 minutes or so, I thought to myself, the thread...

2009, first season in Whistler I ordered a new giant glory to replace a broken frame in the lead up to Crankworx, 2 hours of it being in my hands I managed to destroy it… So when you’re young, stupid, in a hurry, and never used certain bike tools before always double check the removal tool in against the headset cup, and always check that one of the prongs didn’t slip through the steerer tube hole into the downtube then proceed to beat the shit out of it because your friend told you it’s not moving hit it harder, until...

Speaking of tubeless explosions, I once drove five hours to an XC race that started at 7:30 am the next morning in Echo, Oregon (near the middle of nowhere). I needed (read: wanted) to switch tires to something faster rolling for the race, but from 8 until 11 pm the night before the race, for the life of me, I could not get the front tire to seat. This process included driving from gas station to gas station looking for a car tire air compressor that put out enough cubic feet per minute to seat the tire, to no avail...

Great question. This might be the best thread on Vital. I have so many to share, but a great one is showing up to a shuttle day with all my riding gear, a change of clothes, lunch, electrolyte drink mix, etc, but I forgot my bike. For everyone else that meant they got a designated full-time shuttle driver that day.

I was squeezing my brake lever randomly at the trailhead, forgetting that I hadn’t put the back wheel back in yet and the pistons popped right out the caliper 🤦🏻‍♂️

A few years ago, I had a DH tire that was impossible to get on the rim. I busted out 3 metal Pedros levers. Got the son of a bitch on. Could only find 2 levers. Oh well, the garage owns it now. Added some sealant through the valve stem, gave the wheel a spin to spread the sealant, found the lever. Somehow made it into my tire when the bead popped on. Almost gave up biking when I realized I had to take the tire off and re-mount it again.

this has actually made me cry before.

Yep, been there. Now I always check the hanger bolt first when there are shifting issues, and continually disappointed to find a loose bolt hasn't been the cause since.

Oh hey! I had the same thing happen to me too except I got lucky that it got caught between the mud guard and the dust wiper so my stanchion survived

Riding along and all of a sudden my fork feels like it completely locked up. Gave it one push down on the bars and heard a nasty scraping sound. Thought for a minute that maybe I had come crazy failure of the air shaft or something else inside. Nope! Just the perfectly sized and shaped rock to get wedged between my stanchion and arch. Took some trail-side fiddling but it eventually popped out. I've never seen or even heard of this happening before haha.

I have become the neighborhood bike mechanic for our cul de sac. Its been fun teaching the kids how to work on their bikes and also making sure they are not riding around on death traps. Seriously if there is a neighbor kid rolling around on a bike go make sure his quick release skewers/bolts are tight on their wheels. Anyways last night I had a kids bike up on the stand and was running through their gears trying to get it to shift into the hardest gear. I had the cable tension set right, limit screws set correctly, hanger...

I got some new tires, inserts, tape, and sealant. Kryptotals, which ended up being some of the tightest beads I’ve ever tried to put on. Front went on well. Back broke two tire levers. The second broke as the tire went on, so I had to crack it open to get the lever piece out. Got some sealant in, and tried pumping it up. And tried again, and again and again and again. I couldn’t get it to seat. Let it sit in the sun, used some soapy water, everything. Finally, finally the bead was seated and it held air...

- One loyal customer had just purchased a new high end road bike, did a few rides and called in complaining of BB/drivetrain clicking. They weren't technically competent to troubleshoot over the phone so they brought the bike in. Roughly an hour drive each way. Bike goes in the stand and we immediately noticed that the front derailleur cable crimp was bent out and ticking the crank every revolution. We shorten the cable, bend it back and send the customer back out into the world. - Bashed my knuckles straight into the top of a sharp road bike chainring while...